Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/111211 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 156
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Can infrastructure investment win "hearts and minds"? We analyze a famous case in the early stages of dictatorship - the building of the motorway network in Nazi Germany. The Autobahn was one of the most important projects of the Hitler government. It was intended to reduce unemployment, and was widely used for propaganda purposes. We examine its role in increasing support for the NS regime by analyzing new data on motorway construction and the 1934 plebiscite, which gave Hitler great powers as head of state. Our results suggest that road building was highly effective, reducing opposition to the nascent Nazi regime.
Subjects: 
political economy
infrastructure spending
establishment of dictatorships
pork-barrel politics
Nazi regime
JEL: 
H54
P16
N44
N94
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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